News
The Gist
- Leadership change at Sitecore. Eric Stine takes over as CEO, replacing Dave O’Flanagan after one year.
- O’Flanagan pushed SaaS and AI. Just months ago, he was championing XM Cloud migrations and AI-powered content experiences.
- Stine's mandate: scale and stability. The former COO is tasked with accelerating growth and strengthening Sitecore’s market position amid heavy competition.
Dave O'Flanagan is out as Sitecore CEO after one year.
Sitecore named Eric Stine, previously Sitecore's chief operating officer, as CEO of the digital customer experience software company, according to a May 1 press release.
The appointment seemed abrupt considering O'Flanagan touted Sitecore's upcoming Symposium conference in a LinkedIn post just six days ago, saying, "At Sitecore, our customers and partners are the heartbeat of everything we do. We’re really excited to showcase your innovation and achievements this November at Sitecore Symposium!"
The day after, O'Flanagan wished Sitecore a happy 24th birthday on LinkedIn.
Update: About an hour after we published this article, O'Flanagan shortly after noon ET Thursday, May 1, posted this on LinkedIn:
"After an incredible journey, I’ve decided to step down as CEO of Sitecore. Leading this company through one of the most transformative periods in its history has been an absolute privilege. When I joined Sitecore via the acquisition of Boxever – where I was CEO and co-founder – I couldn’t have imagined the scale of the opportunity ahead. Together, we’ve reimagined Sitecore as the most modern, cloud-native, and AI-capable solution on the market."
He went on to say, "Though I’ll be moving on from the day-to-day, I’ll remain close to Sitecore as an advisor to the Board – and I’ll be cheering from the sidelines as the new team takes the helm for the next chapter. For now - it’s time to spend some time at home with my wife and kids while I think about what’s next. I’ve got great ambitions to slow down - to improve my neglected golf handicap and master Padel. But I also know I won’t be watching the AI revolution from the sidelines – see you on the pitch soon."
Updated 7 p.m. ET Thursday evening, May 1 regarding other Sitecore executives:
The leadership team as a whole likely has seen a shakeup, judging by the Sitecore leadership page. Noticeable absences from an earlier 2025 version of the leadership page include:
- Rohinee Mohindroo, chief digital & information officer
- Kathie Johnson, chief marketing officer
- Lorcan Malone, chief of staff
It is unclear if these executives are with Sitecore or not, and when their tenures ended. CMSWire emailed a Sitecore spokesperson Thursday evening for clarity on those three leaders. As of Thursday evening, Johnson's and Malone's LinkedIn profiles still had them at Sitecore, while Mohindroo's said her tenure ended in 2024.
Updated Friday morning, ET, May 2: Johnson, CMO, announced her departure from Sitecore in a LinkedIn post.
Table of Contents
- Sitecore MVPs: Sadness and Surprise at O'Flanagan's Exit
- O'Flanagan Championed XM Cloud Growth
- O'Flanagan’s Vision for Sitecore: Product-Led Growth and SaaS Transition
- Eric Stine Praised for Customer Growth, Vision and AI Focus
- Sitecore CEO Timeline
- What Is Sitecore?
- Stage to Digital Experience Strategy: Stine Steps Into the Spotlight
Sitecore MVPs: Sadness and Surprise at O'Flanagan's Exit
Matthew McQueeny, head of relationships at digital experience consultancy Konabos and a Sitecore MVP, said the Sitecore CEO news personally caught him "completely off guard."
"First I heard of it were some rumblings last night," McQueeny said. "Even with that, I didn’t believe it until the official announcement."
O'Flanagan did not immediately return on Thursday morning a LinkedIn message from CMSWire asking for his thoughts on the move. The executive change was so fresh this morning O'Flanagan's LinkedIn profile still listed himself as Sitecore CEO at one point.
A Sitecore spokesperson who shared today's press release with CMSWire, when asked why the move was made and for more information on O'Flanagan's fate, said more context would be coming. The press release did say O'Flanagan would remain an advisor to the Sitecore board.
The release also mentioned O'Flanagan was appointed to transform Sitecore into the most modern and AI-capable Digital Experience Platform on the market. O'Flanagan initially joined Sitecore through the acquisition of Boxever in 2021; he was founder and CEO. Following the integration of Boxever into Sitecore's Customer Data Platform (CDP), O'Flanagan became the company's chief product officer and then chief executive officer in 2024.
Over the course of his tenure, O'Flanagan has moved Sitecore into the cloud, as a feature-rich DXP with AI capabilities that enable customers to deliver the most compelling digital experiences, according to company officials. While O'Flanagan will be moving on from the day-to-day management of the business, he will remain an advisor to the Board.
Robbert Hock, a 16-time Sitecore MVP and architect at uxbee, told CMSWire, “As someone with a technical background, I’m a little sad to see Dave O’Flanagan step down. His impact on Sitecore has been significant—not only as CEO over the past year but also during his three-year tenure as chief product officer."
O'Flanagan was instrumental in shaping Sitecore into a market-leading, AI-powered SaaS Digital Experience Platform, Hock added.
"That said, I’m genuinely excited about the appointment of Eric Stine," Hock said. "Looking at his background, his experience and leadership bring new energy and possibilities, and I’m confident he’ll build on this momentum to take Sitecore to even greater heights."
Related Article: Sitecore Officially Names Dave O'Flanagan as CEO
O'Flanagan Championed XM Cloud Growth
Just this past February, O’Flanagan told CMSWire he was championing Sitecore’s efforts to overcome migration and usability challenges tied to its XM Cloud platform. In an interview with CMSWire, O’Flanagan acknowledged the platform’s complexity but highlighted the company’s major strides in simplifying the customer experience—particularly through generative AI and a complete overhaul of its visual authoring environment, with key updates expected by April or May.
At the time, O’Flanagan spoke optimistically about partner momentum and market maturity, pointing to hundreds of successful migrations and new AI tools capable of auto-migrating not just Sitecore XP sites, but any website to XM Cloud. “It just needed the time to do it,” he said. “I think we've gone through that painful process now, and we're kind of on the far side of that challenge.”
Sitecore was recognized in the latest Gartner Magic Quadrant for its innovation, composable DXP capabilities and B2B solutions. However, the report also highlighted concerns about platform complexity, reliance on technical expertise and migration challenges for customers transitioning to XM Cloud. O’Flanagan acknowledged in his interview with CMSWire the challenges related to platform complexity but emphasized the company's ongoing efforts to simplify the experience across the stack.
He noted that generative AI (Sitecore Stream) has played a key role in streamlining processes, while Sitecore has also undertaken a complete rebuild of its visual authoring environment to improve usability. Major updates were expected to be unveiled by late April or early May of this year, which O’Flanagan described as a significant leap forward in accessibility and innovation. The challenge, he said, is balancing enterprise-grade capabilities with user-friendly tools, ensuring that Sitecore meets the needs of both sophisticated technical teams and business users.
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"Dave moved into the CEO role about a year ago, with his official unveiling in his hometown of Dublin at SUGCON Europe 2024," McQueeny said. "His product vision — product leadership is his background — set a path ahead for Sitecore’s composable future. He was always approachable and present in conversations at all the events."
McQueeny added that rumblings have centered around the digital experience software market over the last year "has been rough, marking substantial headwinds for bringing that vision through the clouds. Add to that the election year in many places around the globe, and America in particular, and its effects have held many enterprise customers from confidently leaping toward the digital transformation that can be catalyzed by a Sitecore."
O'Flanagan’s Vision for Sitecore: Product-Led Growth and SaaS Transition
When O’Flanagan was officially appointed CEO in April 2024, he laid out a clear and pragmatic vision for Sitecore’s future—one grounded in product leadership, cloud migration support, and customer flexibility.
A self-described “product guy,” O’Flanagan aimed to center Sitecore’s growth on innovation and usability across its composable DXP suite. He prioritized accelerating adoption of XM Cloud through AI-powered migration tools, dual licensing, and extended support to ease customers’ transition from legacy systems. His focus was on reducing complexity, clarifying product positioning, and building compelling business cases to show the total cost of ownership benefits for moving to SaaS.
O’Flanagan acknowledged that modernizing Sitecore’s aging core architecture would be no small feat, but he leaned into transparency and collaboration with Sitecore’s developer and partner community. He emphasized choice—ensuring customers could move at their own pace—and committed to continued investment in personalization, search, CDP, and AI integrations across Sitecore’s composable stack.
Under his leadership, Sitecore sought to be “a great choice” for digital experience teams navigating the trade-offs between powerful legacy systems and a future built in the cloud.
David San Filippo, senior vice president of digital content and experience for digital experience consultancy Altudo and Sitecore MVP, told CMSWire that between his role as chief product officer and CEO, O’Flanagan ushered in Sitecore’s shift to composable architecture and XM Cloud, "setting the company on the transformative path it’s been on. His impact has been huge and will be felt for years to come," San Filippo said.
A Customer’s Perspective on Sitecore CEO's Changes: From Inspiration to Anticipation
Rogelio Villanueva, Sitecore MVP and director of global web marketing at Shure, said he came across Sitecore CEO news on LinkedIn and was genuinely surprised and impressed. He called it a "bold and exciting move."
"Despite his relatively short tenure, Dave O’Flanagan had a profoundly positive impact on Sitecore," Villanueva said. "In just a few years, he helped transform the company into a modern, cloud-native, AI-driven leader in digital experience. He scaled the company financially, launched XM Cloud, pioneered Sitecore Stream and built a culture grounded in simplicity, integrity and grit. At the Nashville Symposium, Dave brought sharp insight and clear vision, and for many of us, he was an inspiration."
As a customer, Villanueva said he experienced firsthand the clarity, transparency and relentless focus he brought to every conversation. His leadership didn’t just move the company forward, it brought customers along with it, he added.
In this new phase, Villanueva said he's thrilled to see Eric Stine step into the role of CEO. He called him a trusted, forward-thinking leader who brings a powerful combination of empathy, strategic insight and energy.
"He has visited our offices several times and has consistently shown a genuine interest in helping us move forward, with the right technology, and in the right direction," Villanueva said. "He has been a strong supporter of our initiatives and our brand. I was also grateful to recently join him for an episode of Sitecore's “Digital Visionaries” series, where we reflected on Shure 100th anniversary and our digital journey. I’m excited to keep working with Eric, the Sitecore team and especially our incredible rep Tom Ogan, who consistently makes a difference and delivers premium customer service. I have no doubt Eric will continue to accelerate Sitecore’s innovation and impact and wish him great success in this new adventure."
Eric Stine Praised for Customer Growth, Vision and AI Focus
Sitecore officials in its press release today credited Stine with building momentum across the company's go-to-market organization. Sitecore XM Cloud – an AI-enabled SaaS platform for delivering digital experiences at scale, has significantly expanded its global customer base, growing global revenues by 100% over the last year, improving customer retention and deepening its ecosystem with the most respected partners. Stine's impact on driving sustained revenue growth and aligning teams around customer success has laid a powerful foundation for the company's next chapter.
Trusted by Peers, Tested by Scale: Stine’s Journey to the Top
San Filippo said, "We’ve worked closely with Eric to drive customer success and have been continually impressed by his vision and leadership. His appointment as CEO marks an exciting new chapter for Sitecore, and we look forward to continuing to collaborate in this next phase of growth and innovation."
Stine said he's honored to lead Sitecore through the next phase of growth and innovation. "Having spent a significant amount of time with our clients, our partners, and our talented team of employees, I am confident that we are uniquely positioned to help brands simplify how they reach, engage and serve their customers," he added. "We have the most compelling and advanced AI-powered DX platform on the market, unlocking powerful, personalized connections at global scale. Combine that with an ecosystem able to implement and drive value faster than any other vendor, and we are simply unrivaled."
Darren Roos, chairman of the Board at Sitecore, added: "Eric has an incredibly impressive track record of leading high performing teams and he is especially well positioned to lead Sitecore through this next wave of growth. He has a real understanding of what customers need to deliver compelling digital experiences, a strong technical background that will enable Sitecore to further leverage AI as a competitive differentiator, and a vision that will attract and inspire customers, employees and partners to grow with the business."
He continued: "I also want to thank Dave O'Flanagan for his contribution and creating a platform for future growth."
Prior to joining Sitecore, Stine was chief executive officer of Elemica, a digital supply chain platform for manufacturers. Previously, Stine held senior leadership roles at several leading enterprise technology firms. He was chief commercial officer at Skillsoft and previously served as chief revenue officer at Qualtrics. Earlier in his career, Stine spent over a decade at SAP, where he led industry go-to-market strategies and built customer-centric commercial operations across North America.
Sitecore CEO Timeline
Michael Seifert (Founding CEO, 2001–2017)
Michael Seifert co-founded Sitecore in 2001 in Denmark and served as the first Sitecore CEO. Under his leadership, Sitecore evolved from a CMS startup into a global digital experience platform provider, expanding rapidly into North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
Mark Frost (Appointed 2017)
Mark Frost was named CEO of Sitecore in 2017 to lead the company into its next phase of growth. He brought experience from companies like SignalFx and New Relic. His appointment came at a time when Sitecore was making bold moves in its digital experience strategy.
Steve Tzikakis (Appointed 2020)
Steve Tzikakis took over as Sitecore CEO later in 2020 after Frost’s short tenure. Under his leadership, Sitecore launched major investments, acquired multiple companies, and pushed hard into the composable DXP market.
Dave O’Flanagan (Appointed April 2024)
Former Boxever CEO and Sitecore Chief Product Officer Dave O’Flanagan was named Sitecore CEO in April 2024. He focused on XM Cloud migration, AI innovation, and product-led strategy during a transitional year for Sitecore.
Eric Stine (Appointed May 2025)
Eric Stine, previously Sitecore’s COO, was promoted to CEO in May 2025. His appointment follows a year of rapid product development, and his new role reflects a focus on revenue growth, AI scalability, and partner alignment.
What Is Sitecore?
According to the CMSWire DXP Market Guide, Sitecore, a privately held software company founded in Denmark in 2001, provides a digital experience platform among other capabilities. Initially focused on content management, it expanded into the U.S. in 2004 and later into Europe and Asia-Pacific.
Acquired by EQT in 2016 for $1.1 billion, Sitecore received an additional $1.2 billion investment in 2021 to drive innovation and expansion. The company has made several strategic acquisitions, including Stylelabs (2018) for content management, Boxever (2021) for customer data and Four51 (2021) for headless commerce, reinforcing its shift toward a composable DXP model.
Sitecore's platform is built on .NET and supports hybrid and headless architectures. Its offerings include Sitecore XM Cloud for content management, Sitecore XP for customer journey orchestration and a suite of AI-powered tools such as Sitecore Personalize for real-time A/B testing and Sitecore Discover for AI-driven search.
Stage to Digital Experience Strategy: Stine Steps Into the Spotlight
McQueeny said there are many players now in this enterprise marketplace, from the likes of Adobe, Optimizely, Contentstack and more. The pressure to deliver results for investors, new logos to your stable of customers and to pivot existing customers to the shiny new products can be a difficult task for a chief to execute.
"Eric Stine assumes the post from his role as COO," McQueeny said. "I met him for the first time at Sitecore Symposium in Nashville, and at the Sitecore MVP Summit party he made a visible effort to work the room and come up and speak to everyone present. He is also a Tony Award nominated producer. It will be similarly important in his role at Sitecore to bring all of the pieces together like he would on Broadway."
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